White town
by RedPirate-chan
Summary: The beautiful Whitehorse Town looses all appeal when two amature kidnappers put Nami and Luffy in mortal danger.Mild Violence.


Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I just play with it.

Water dripped from the damp cloth into the bowl. Chopper squeezed it and placed it back on Nami's head.

"Nft," she mumbled, rolling her head to the side and back to the centre.

"I can do that." Sanji leaned against the doorframe, his face drawn, closed.

A livid bruise coloured his pale face. A deep graze tore open his cheek.

Chopper turned his head.

"You need sleep," he said to Sanji. "Go to bed."

"Can't sleep," said Sanji. "Let me help."

"I can give you something to help you sleep," Chopper offered.

Sanji shook his head.

"I'd rather see her like this than… I'd rather be here."

Chopper heard the catch in Sanji's voice.

"It wasn't your fault," the little doctor said gently, but he slid off the chair he had been standing on. Sanji took his place.

"I'm here, Nami-san," he whispered into the navigator's pale ear. "I won't leave you."

_Twelve hours earlier_

"I'm here, Nami-san. What can I do for you?" Sanji danced in front of Nami, hand clasped over his heart.

"I need parchment, ink and some new clothes. I can get those myself. You can help by getting some red meat. No offence to your cooking, Sanji, but I need a change from seafood."

"Anything you ask." Sanji bowed low. Nami rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. No need for that. Besides, Luffy was about to ask you the same thing."

"Sure was!" Luffy grinned. "I wonder what the taverns are like here?" he asked, looking out over the pristine white town they had docked at. "It looks really classy."

"I suppose I will have to go with you." Zoro pretended to complain. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble after all."

"So you wanna check out the taverns too, Zoro?" Luffy smiled cheekily.

"Something like that." Zoro gave up his pretence and smiled himself.

"I'm hungry," said Usopp, "but are we sure this town is safe?"

"No," said Luffy honestly, "but we need to set the lock-post and we are almost out of fresh water and meat. We have to stop here. You can stay on the ship, Usopp, but you'll be alone."

Usopp watched Chopper walk down the gangway to the dock with bag in hand.

Figuring correctly the little reindeer was after medicinal ingredients, going to an apothecary with a doctor would be safe than going to a tavern with Luffy.

"No, that's fine. I'll go and, um, protect Chopper."

"Fine," said Luffy and the crew joined Chopper on the docks, split up and headed into the beautifully sign-posted Whitehorse Town.

Fed-up shopkeeper Luka Morrow stood in a pristine Whitehorse Town alley, smiling at the row of wanted posters neatly lined up along the white wall. A boy with a straw hat grinned foolishly out from one of them. 100 million berri. He looked from the boy to the reward again. He watched the same boy and his crew alight from a small ship at the public dock nearby.

Some might think that this one was an easy mark because of how he looked, but if Morrow's lack-lustre year as a Marine had taught him anything they were not into throwing money away for nothing or making themselves look foolish. They had obviously tried and failed several times to catch him.

Of course, the fact he was protected by the famed, now clearly ex, pirate hunter Zoro could in part explain that. In fact, judging by the success of the small crew he had assembled, Monkey D. Luffy seemed to have a good eye for quality.

No, this crew would not be an easy mark but they would be worth it.

He turned to his young wife standing beside him, raven hair spilled over her shoulders in silk waves. He couldn't resist brushing a casual hand against it.

(Well, at least his year on the sea had not been a total waste)

"Time to gather the bait, Sariku."

Sariku kissed her husband's cheek. "Don't forget to pick up something nice for dinner.

A little celebration supper, perhaps?"

She walked towards the town, humming happily.

Morrow watched his ticket out of the retail business wander toward the city, laughing.

"I can manage on my own," Nami said to Sanji for the fifth time.

"A beautiful lady should not be left to walk around a strange town unaccompanied," he replied.

"Why?" muttered Nami under her breath. "It's not like you are going to be coming the other way." Aloud she said. "Alright, you can come to the stationers but I shop for clothes alone."

"As you wish, Nami-san," Sanji said happily.

Zoro noticed Luffy was distracted all through lunch. He barely seemed to taste his meat and he was even chewing some of the time.

"What's up, Luffy? You seem troubled."

"Hmmmm," said Luffy. "I've been thinking."

"Uh oh," said Zoro.

Luffy went on, "This town is beautiful. Clean. I bet lots of rich people live here. I bet they are very fussy about who they let in."

"Yet they let us in," Zoro laughed.

"Hmmmm. No one seemed bothered that a pirate crew is wandering through their classy town. If I lived here, I'd be worried," Luffy said seriously. "I don't think we should be long here. If this is a trap we'll have to fight and I don't wanna fight here. It'll just slow us down and apart from food there is nothing here we want."

Zoro raised his eyebrows. "How did you get so sensible all of a sudden?"

Luffy shrugged. "It just feels weird here. They look at us funny ,like we are dinner."

"Come to think of it, the wanted posters are laid on pretty thick. That's it.

I'm taking you to see Chopper. You didn't hit your head ,did you?"

"No." said Luffy, confused. "But we are getting the others. Let's go round 'em up."

Chopper sat on the deck of the Going Merry, sorting his new ingredients into the coloured glass bottles he had just procured. Usopp leaned over the little bottles, writing in the tiny labels as neatly as he could, checking with Chopper for the spelling of some of the more unusual words.

"So does feverfew do what it sounds like it does?" Usopp asked.

"Exactly," said Chopper, pleased at Usopp's interest.

"I expected them to be back before us," Usopp said. "It felt like we were in that

shop forever."

"I could have spent the day in there," Chopper said happily. "That smell, it kinda makes me homesick." His smile faded.

Usopp put a hand on Chopper's shoulder.

"Every time I rest my hand on the rail or see this ship from the land, I think of Kaya and miss my home too."

Chopper looked up at Usopp and nodded, smiling at this unaccustomed moment of understanding from a human.

"This parchment is from the East Blue," the woman behind the stationer's counter said. Its quality is ordinary to say the least. Only suitable for shopping lists and notes. If you are looking for cartographic parchment the only kind we have that will do your work justice is from the Maringo tree of West Blue. It's hard to obtain but I do have a small supply. It's too valuable to keep on the shelves so it's all down in the basement. If you come with me you may choose the best pieces for yourself."

"Thank you very much! I'll be back in a minute, Sanji. Wait here," Nami ordered as she followed the shop owner down the ladder behind the counter. Sanji watched them both go.

It was all he could do not to reach out and touch the black silky hair of the beautiful shopkeeper.

Luffy and Zoro searched the food market and some of the larger clothing shops but could find no trace of Nami or Sanji. The apothecary was more useful. The man there had served Usopp and Chopper about an hour before. He recalled being impressed by the strange little doctor's knowledge.

Zoro thanked him and they left the shop.

"Knowing Usopp, he would have insisted they went back to the ship. Maybe the others are there too?" Zoro said.

"Yeah. I hope Sanji has started tea. All this walking has made me hungry!"

Zoro rolled his eyes as he followed his young captain back to the Going Merry.

Sanji was getting bored. Nami had gone down the ladder fifteen minutes ago and there was not a single pretty lady in sight. Even the shopkeeper hadn't come back to serve any other customers. Sanji went over to the ladder and called, "Nami-san! Have you selected enough special paper, my little peachpuff?"

No answer.

Sanji frowned. They could have just been out of earshot but it never hurt to be safe.

He had just put his foot on the top rung when a melodious voice floated up from below.

"Excuse me, honey. May I come up?"

Sanji leaped off the ladder and offered his hand to the shop owner as she stepped off.

Sanji looked back down the ladder.

"Where is Nami-san?" he asked politely.

"Well, sugar, your friend decided to shop for clothes. She said if she came back up here she would never get any privacy." The young woman smiled and put her hand on Sanji's arm, lowering her voice as if she was sharing an intimate secret. "She asked me to tell you to wait for her on the Going Merry."

Sanji's knees went weak at the pretty shop owner's touch and silvery smile.

"Of course, my dear, if that's what she wants."

"You are a good friend to her." Her soft lips brushed Sanji's cheek. "Now, it's closing time, sugar. Maybe you can come back tomorrow? Oh, wait." The shop keeper pulled an envelope from her pocket. It was sealed with red wax but no stamp. "This is for your captain, Luffy, isn't it? It's an invitation to the Mayor's mid-Summer dance. All captains lucky enough to be in port on this night are invited. It's our way of thanking them for bringing so many customers to us. It's only for the captain, I'm afraid, because space is limited but there is a fair tomorrow and an outdoor dance. There will be plenty of local lovelies there. Will you come?"

"You bet, my lady!" Sanji grinned as he let her guide him through the door and close it behind him. He walked all the way back to the ship with his hand over his cheek, a foolish grin on his face.

The shop owner moved away from the locked door and called into the apparently empty shop. She moved over to the ladder and looked down.

"Finished, Luka?"

"Finished," Luka Morrow replied.

"Time for our little celebration, then?" Sariku smiled.

"Not yet. We have the bait. Now we need to wait for the berri to come to us."

Luffy and Zoro returned to the ship to see Usopp and Chopper leaning over a medical text. Chopper was reading the section on setting bones aloud and Usopp was writing Chopper's updates in the margins.

"Hi, guys!" Luffy said happily. "Is dinner on the go?"

"No," said Usopp. "You're the first back after us."

"Well, Nami is shopping for clothes," Zoro said.

"Oh yeah," said Luffy as if Zoro had just revealed one of the great mysteries of the universe. "I still wanna go. Let's go looking…"

"Isn't it safer if we stay…?" Usopp's voice faded from Luffy's ears as he sprung over the rail, almost landing on Sanji.

"Sanji! We were just gonna look for you."

"Well, here I am."

"Where's Nami?" Zoro growled.

"She gave me the slip so she could go shopping for clothes," Sanji replied laconically.

"Come on then, we're going looking for her," Luffy said sternly.

"She won't be happy with you," Sanji said. He prepared to follow, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He felt the envelope.

"Oh, Luffy. This lovely shopkeeper gave me this for you. It's an invitation to a dance the town is throwing tonight."

"Cool!" Luffy beamed at the heavy paper and wax seal. "This looks fancy. That means there'll be good food."

"I thought you wanted to leave," Zoro said.

"Yeah, but I gotta eat," Luffy said happily as he broke the seal and began to read.

_Dear Captain Monkey D. Luffy._

_We apologize for troubling you but your female crewmate is in urgent need of your presence._

_She has found herself in a dangerous situation._

_If you come, alone, to this address, the young lady will be returned to your crew unharmed._

_If you fail to show by 8pm or bring others I'm afraid we will be unable to save her._

_In hope_

_Mr and Mrs. M._

Luffy's smile had long faded and his face looked green then red.

Zoro snatched the paper from Luffy. Sanji read it over Zoro's shoulder.

His face lost all colour.

"Everyone, back in the Merry." Luffy forced the words through his teeth. Zoro met Luffy's eyes, nodded and headed up the gangway.

"No," said Sanji. "No, I'm not letting those baka touch my Nami-san!"

He made to charge but Luffy grabbed his arm.

"I have to go alone."

"But…"

"Zoro, could you keep him here?"

"Get your hands off me, Seaweed Head!"

"I'll be back with Nami before 8 pm. Usopp, prepare the ship to sail."

"Aye aye," Usopp said smartly.

"LET ME GO!" Sanji screamed as Luffy walked toward the city.

The building was white and pastel, like all of the buildings around it.

Clean, neat, freshly painted. Pink flowers loomed in window boxes.

The heavy door was closed.

Luffy lifted his foot, preparing to kick it open when he heard a voice from above.

"No need for that," a man's voice said. Luffy heard a click and the door swung open.

Luffy automatically looked up at the voice and saw something dangling from a pole two stories up. He looked harder and saw a girlish figure and red hair sticking out above a gag.

Above her a man leaned out from the roof, a pair of scissors in his hand.

"Pull her in," Luffy ordered.

"I would like nothing more," the man said. "But you have to do something for me first. Look inside."

Luffy peered into a smartly tiled parlour. Between a painting of fruit and a strange gold harp, a steel cage was bolted to the wall.

"All you need to do is get in and she's free."

"Why should I trust you, Mr M.?" Luffy snarled.

"I won't get anything for her," Morrow said matter-of-factly, "and I'm no murderer. I just wanna retire early."

"Or I could just…" Luffy braced to jump. M's hand shot out and the scissors touched the rope.

"Do and she'll be down before you get halfway up," M said in a rush.

Luffy smiled. "Really?" He moved under Nami.

"Gomu Gomu no R-,"

"Nami-san!" Luffy's head snapped around, as did M's.

Together they watched Sanji run across the street.

"Let her down, you piece of crap!" he yelled.

"Oh, dear," M said. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Sariku! Bring the bucket."

Sanji watched a second, familiar, figure move across the roof.

"You!" Sanji said. "I let you kiss me!"

"Sorry, hon. It's nothing personal."

Luffy rounded on Sanji. "You idiot!" Luffy screamed. "Are you trying to kill her? You read the letter. I'm going to flatten you into the ground!"

_Splash_

Luffy froze mid-punch and fell, numb, to the ground.

"Sea water!"

"Sariku, go!" Morrow ordered his wife down the stairs.

"Catch!" he called down to Sanji as he cut the rope.

"Nami!" Sanji screamed as he ran underneath her. He held out his arms and leaned back. A second of silence before everything went black.

Sanji opened his eyes to see the beautiful shopkeeper dragging a prone Luffy towards the white building.

"Get lost!" he thought he cried out but it was only a mumble.

He stumbled towards Luffy. The woman was faster and, even with her burden, beat him to the door. It slammed in Sanji's face.

The cook stepped back, raised his leg, leaned forward and the door became splinters.

Sariku was so surprised she dropped Luffy. Sanji walked over to his prone captain.

"Excuse me, madam," he said coldly. He leaned down and, grabbing Luffy's shirt, dragged him outside.

It was then he saw Nami.

Nami breathed slowly against Sanji's cheek as his head rested on the sick bed.

His eyes kept drooping shut.

"I'm never leaving you alone again." He whispered.

"How am I ever going to go to the bathroom again?" a cheerful, slightly hazy, voice said next to Sanji's head.

He sat bolt upright.

"Nami! Nami." Tears began to roll down his cheek.

"Hey, Sanji-kun. I'm fine. I'm fine." She reached up to wipe away a tear.

"I remember, Sanji. I know what you did."

"If I hadn't followed Luffy, he wouldn't have cut the rope."

Nami gasped. "Luffy! Where is he?"

"Sleeping off dinner," Sanji smiled.

Nami sighed in relief. "So because you followed him we still have a captain. I think he'll forgive you. I know I have." She flashed him another smile and his chest knotted.

"Are there any tangerines nearby?" she asked.

"There can be." Sanji smiled as he started for the galley. "There sure can be."

The end


End file.
